Hungaroring in frame for World Rallycross round

Szabo raced full time in World RX last year with a Mattias Ekstrom-owned Audi S1, and is contesting selected events this season in a GRX SET Hyundai i20.

During the opening rounds of the season in Sweden last weekend Szabo ran Hungaroring branding on his i20.

“I really hope that in the near future Hungary will organise a World RX race and it will be at the Hungaroring,” Szabo told Motorsport.com.

“I’m trying to bring a race to Hungary, to have a home race for me. Hopefully that will happen in maximum two or three years. We have a good relationship with the Hungaroring and I think that’s the first step, to get a good connection with the sport.”

While World RX has never visited Hungary, the European rallycross championship was a regular at the Nyirad circuit from 2006 to 2013, the final Euro RX event to date at the venue being won by Timmy Hansen.

Szabo says rallycross is growing in popularity in his homeland, in part thanks to his World RX campaign last year.  

“The sport is growing in Hungary as more and more drivers race in World RX events, especially in Euro RX. My appearance in World RX last year raised the attention of a lot of people. Hopefully if we can arrive in Hungary with a race there, a lot of fans will come.

"Some better results for me last year would have even been better [for getting rallycross exposure]. We have Norbert Michelisz in WTCR, he is well known in Hungary. Sometimes I get recognised on the street, so people are watching, but I think a Hungarian round would be necessary to really expand the popularity of this sport.”

Double Euro RX Super1600 champion Szabo impressed on his debut with Marcus Gronholm’ squad last weekend in Holjes, and made the semi-finals in both rounds. He won’t compete in the Finnish double-header this weekend, but will return for the Latvian rounds in Riga next month.

“I’m happy to be in World RX and I’m so glad that I can be part of Gronholm RX,” he said. “The team already has two good drivers who I can follow and learn from. The team and car are great, I just want to enjoy, have fun and do my best.”